Technology

VaynerMedia’s Gary Vaynerchuk

If you want to learn how to turn Internet fame into an entrepreneurial empire, just follow the path of Gary Vaynerchuk. The Belarus-born, New Jersey–raised Vaynerchuk first came to prominence via the brash, vulgar, and fast-talking videos he created for his family’s liquor store turned $45 million online business, Wine Library. But he quickly realized he could mold that virality into something much bigger. He used his social-media clout to pursue entrepreneurial projects and became a go-to speaker at business and tech conferences around the world, eventually publishing best-selling books Crush It and The Thank You Economy. And in 2009 he launched his own social-media consulting agency, VaynerMedia, while continuing to invest in—and hawk passionately for—some of the hottest startups in the industry, including Tumblr, Twitter, and Path. We sat down with the avid Jets fan to talk about how his iPhone 5 keeps him in the social-media game.

Phone: Black iPhone 5.

Case: None. “I don’t use one for the same reason men don’t ask for directions. Truth is I’m too lazy to buy one.”

Background: His daughter Misha. “[My wife] Lizzie will kill me when she reads this because my son Xander’s not in it. But Misha’s such a huge personality. Very similar to me in a lot of ways. The photo just makes me smile.”

Last text: Little Lou, youngest employee at VaynerMedia. “He’s little Lou because I know his dad, Big Lou—I’ve known Little Lou since he was 10. He texted me, ‘Are you interested in Martin Prado?’ [To trade in Vaynerchuk’s fantasy baseball league.] I said no.”

Most-Used App:Tweetbot. “I’m most in a regimen to use [Twitter] because it is the platform that most established who I think I am at this current stage. I’m not sure if Twitter’s native app is better than Tweetbot’s at this moment, but I’ve gotten used to [Tweetbot].”

Currently obsessed with:Namely and Snapchat. “Namely is a startup that allows me to manage this entire company. It’s almost an H.R. organizational app for agencies. I should mention that I invested in it, but only after I forced them to let me in because I was using it and it’s incredible. Snapchat I believe is on the cusp of becoming very mainstream, so I’m spending a lot of time on it. I’ve been playing around with it in the funny way—not like the funny sexting way. I have ungodly amounts of Snapchat followers right now, because I’ve opened it up to all my fans. I’m getting the same reaction from my followers as I did when I used to Tweet at them in 2008.”

Last download:Anchor. “It’s this new kind of organizational app that I’m fascinated by. It’s a project-management tool—kind of like 37signals’ Basecamp in mobile form.”

Most surprising app on his home screen:eBay. “Just the other day I moved it to my third screen ’cause—I’m not doing it right now but I was selling a lot of stuff I was buying at garage sales on eBay and I had a [folder] here that said “The Business,” and it was eBay, Craigslist, iGarageSale and Yard Sale Mapper. It’s like my favorite hobby.”

Guiltiest pleasure:CBS Sports Fantasy Baseball. “I’m very hard-core in my VaynerMedia [baseball] fantasy league. I’m in third right now, but I’m going to win. I can’t do football because I love the Jets too much. But baseball is so boring I need it.”

Wish more people knew about:Wanelo. “It’s a shopping app, and I think it’s going to be pretty big. It’s Pinterest-y in some ways, but it is very utilitarian. You save it or you buy it. It’s a good product.”

Favorite mobile game:Dots. “Honestly, Dots is the only mobile game I’ve ever played for more than, like, three times. Dots was very well done, and I was thinking about it from a marketing standpoint.”

Clean inbox? No. “I don’t let it get out of control; it is just much better than I am. I try with all my heart. Like, did you see this message number? I’m sure that’s going to cause a lot of ruckus.”

Text or call? Text. “I’m heavy text. I don’t have a lot people in my life that wanna [talk on the phone]. It’s e-mail and text. For the most part phone calls are just becoming a rarity. I’ll still call my parents. I have a lot of heart for being on the phone with them.”